Thursday, February 8, 2018

Trump flirts with having a military parade: pros and cons

Washington -- Say what you want, but Americans love a parade. Especially parades like the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade or a parade when the hometown wins the big one. But military parades are not the same thing.

Do we really need to flex our muscles in front of a global mirror?

Short answer: maybe . . . maybe not.

Traditionally, the United States has had to world's most 'kick-buttiest' military, but we don't tend to flaunt it on the public streets of our cities--we let Russia, China and North Korea show off and hype their weaponry.

But since when does President Trump follow tradition? He has given a directive for the Pentagon to come up with options for a yooge military march to do what our rival nations do. However lawmakers and military brass are mulling over the purpose, the risk and the cost of putting on a really big show.

Both Democrats and Republicans have voiced concern and for good reason.
"People will wonder, 'Well, what are they afraid of now? What are they trying to prove?'" asks Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a woman with an impressive name who represents the District of Columbia in Congress. "We don't have to show off to make a point." 

You see, President Trump attended the Bastille Day celebration in Paris last July and it apparently gave him parade envy. The Washington Post wrote that he wants one too.

On one hand it's a "fantastic waste of money," as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said. Another senator who calls himself a Republican, Lindsey Graham, told the Certainly Not News network that the parade risks being "kind of cheesy and a sign of weakness" if it's just about showing them that ours is bigger than theirs.

But Trump doesn't seem to care, in spite of his aides performing verbal calisthenics to downplay the idea that it was anything more than an idea he had "in a brainstorming session" for Americans to express gratitude and military pride. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said there has not been a final decision on the matter, and it's assumed the parade would cost millions.

"We've been putting together some options. We'll send them up to the White House for a decision," Defense Secretary James Mattis said. "The president's respect, his fondness for the military I think is reflected in his asking for these options."

On the "con side," there's the problem that heavy tanks and other armament would tear up the streets of D.C. under the tremendous weight. When Trump first suggested the idea to top aides aboard Air Force One after the Paris parade, staff discussed the best time to have it, but noted the tanks at the Bastille Day Parade tore up the city's pavement, throwing chunks of concrete as they moved along.

But President Trump dismissed the concern, according to one person who spoke on condition of anonymity because he or she may, or may not actually exist, but if he or she does, they don't want to get fired. The anonymous source said that Trump told them, "That's okay, we can fix the streets."

Holmes Norton told the Associated Press that she is taking steps to ensure that "if Trump wants a parade, he pays for it."

She probably didn't mean that Trump pay for it out of his own pocket, but out of federal tax money. Evidently Holmes Norton is a liberal who cannot differentiate between tax money and personal funds. In any case, she knows there's little hope of blocking a parade permit due to the problem she has with the existence of a U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment right to free assembly.

Another con: military strength is strongest when its power is inferred, not flaunted, like North Korea tends to do. "We have avoided doing this kind of display, in part to emphasize that contrast because this has been so commonplace in authoritarian countries," Julian Zelizer a presidential historian at Princeton University said. "For some presidents, it's sometimes a strategic act: Speak quietly while carrying a big stick," as President Theodore Roosevelt advised.

On the pro side: it's a way to venerate our troops. "I trust President Trump, Defense Department, Secretary Mattis to do it the right way, and do it in a way that makes sense and is cost effective," Jonny Havens, an Iraq war veteran said.

Which puts a new meaning on "bigger bang for your buck."

Maybe the country needs a parade, I suspect President Trump just likes the pomp and circumstance. The few million dollars it would cost is really comparable to pizza money in terms of the national budget.

The question is, do we really need it or will it just be another thing that further divides an already divided nation?


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